It's day 3 and we are still chasing the ever elusive Nintendo DS Lite. It's was an early start for us all this morning so that we could get across town to the "Duty Free" shopping centre in a hope that Sherie could claim her prize. The journey took us around 30 minutes of which we spent most of the time trying to tell the taxi driver to take us straight to the shopping centre, and that we weren't interested in buying Thai Silk! We made it, and lo and behold, not a games console in sight. The saga continues…

After leaving the shopping centre, the plan was to head to the Grand Palace to see the Emerald Buddha. We were delivered to our destination by a Fidel Castro look-a-like taxi driver, he was very pleasant though. Upon arrival we were told that there was a memorial ceremony going on for the Kings sister, who died last week and that we could come back at 1.30pm. In the mean time, we could take a Tuk Tuk for a guided tour for the princely sum of 11p. The drawback being that we had to stop at a shop and have a look around so that the Tuk Tuk driver would get a free tank of petrol from the shop for taking us there (this is common practice in Bangkok). We all wanted to give the Tuk Tuk a go so decided to play the game and go along. As promised we saw a Golden Buddha at a temple (though we have no idea which buddha or which temple) and then proceeded on to the shop. We looked around, did the usual tourist bit, and then left. We were then taken to a further 2 shops, at which point the Tuk Tuk drivers were politely told to go away, and we made our own way back to the hotel. Still, we got a good ride in a Tuk Tuk, and all had a good laugh about it, eventually.

After having a spot of afternoon tea it was back to the room for a nap (as we we're still not sleeping properly!) before heading out to Patpong. Patpong can be likened to Soho in London, only with Ping Pong games thrown in for good measure and the girls lined up out side the "massage parlours" as if you were choosing a football team. It was interesting to see, but seedy as hell. With Patpong done and dusted, there was time for a quick drink in the hotels trendy V9 bar, before hitting the hay.

James